Pickett v. Prince, 207 F. 3d 402 (7th cir. 2000)
The musician Prince was the assignee of a copyright in the symbol he began to use to identify himself (Prince’s Symbol). Ferdinand Pickett made a guitar in the shape of the symbol without Prince’s approval or license. Pickett claimed that he showed the guitar to Prince. Prince later appeared in public playing a guitar in the shape of the symbol, similar to Pickett’s guitar. Pickett sued Prince for copyright infringement.
Pickett claimed that although he unlawfully copied Prince’s Symbol to create a guitar in that shape, he nevertheless contributed original work of his authorship in creating the guitar in addition to the copyrighted symbol itself. Pickett argued that Prince violated his copyright in the original element that he such created.
7th Circuit held that “The Copyright Act grants the owner of a copyright the exclusive right to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work. So Pickett could not make a derivative work based on the Prince symbol without Prince’s authorization even if Pickett’s guitar had a smidgeon of originality.“
Simply put, one cannot claim copyright in one’s original creation if that creation is an extension of an original work that is copyrighted by someone else.
Law in Style. 